


The Twentieth of December

by Liadt



Category: Strictly Come Dancing RPF
Genre: Angst, Gen, Goodbyes, woe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 00:24:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5764654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liadt/pseuds/Liadt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anton says goodbye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Twentieth of December

Anton woke with a cry of shock. After the Strictly final and the BBC bar closed, he had come back to Katie’s and crashed out on her sofa, lulled into sleep by a combination of drink and exhaustion once the adrenaline of the final had dissipated. It wasn’t a nightmare that had woken him. Katie’s teenage daughter, Natasha, had jumped on him. She was too old to be doing that sort of thing, but evil was something that children didn’t grow out of, thought Anton grumpily. 

“Mum’s booked a taxi for you. It’s coming in -” Natasha paused to check her watch. “- In one hour and twenty seven minutes. Do you want to practice your dance you’re going to do with Joanne in Grimsby?”

“Nat, leave Anton alone, he’s our guest and should be treated as such,” chided Katie, walking into the lounge, carrying a tray with a pint of a cup of coffee, a couple of headache tablets and a couple of slices of buttered toast on it. “Morning,” said Katie to him.

“Morning, my dear, you’re an angel,” said Anton, gratefully taking the tray off her. “And you look like one too.”

“Flatterer.”

There was a short silence. 

“I was waiting for you to fill the gap with an equally complimentary reply,” said Anton, deciding on drinking the coffee first.

“I don’t think it’d set a good example to the children if I told lies. Hurry up and eat your toast or Natasha will get into the shower first and still be there long after you have to go. Towels and an old dressing gown of John’s are in the airing cupboard opposite the bathroom door. Throw your clothes on the landing and I’ll give them a quick spin and a press. I can’t have Grimsby seeing a less than debonair Anton.”

“That’s very kind of you, but I feel very un-PC about you doing my ironing.”

“Don’t be silly, you’re my guest. I can get John to do it, if it’ll make you feel better, but he can’t be trusted when it comes to suits; he’ll probably swap it for one of his own.” Katie’s eyes twinkled. The suit John wore for the final was the suit of the night for all the wrong reasons. 

Anton laughed.

****

Katie and Anton were standing on the front step of her house, while the taxi driver waited patiently in the cab. Anton was standing very tall and straight as he said his goodbyes. It wasn’t because of good posture. He thought to himself he must be professional because he is a professional and not start sobbing because the show’s run was over. He’d done twelve series of Strictly previously and he knew how it went, if you were lucky, you had a lovely time working with a celebrity you got on with, share secrets and truths, a few laughs and that was that, you never see them again, not really. There would be the occasional bumping into each other in a TV or radio station’s corridor and ‘liking’ photos on Facebook and that was as friendly as it would be. Anton wished it wouldn’t be like that with Katie. He didn’t want the inevitable; she really was special. He didn’t want to step off the step as it meant it would finally be over.

It was a pity Katie hadn’t chosen to do Strictly because she had wanted to use the show to get a job in the West End like some contestants. If she had, he would have taken her on tour with him like a shot and given Erin extra maternity leave. 

“Thanks again for making Strictly a wonderful experience for me,” said Katie, hugging him.

“No, thank you for letting me have the opportunity to put on a show dance.”

“Which I messed up.”

“No, don’t say that. You’re perfect, even when you’re not, you still are, which was far less often than the judges would have led you to believe.”

“Aw, but you’re only saying that because you’re great.”

“Really, really -” began Anton, before Katie joined in with, “- really, really, great.”

The pair of them laughed and hugged again tightly. Anton kissed her on both cheeks and beamed at her as he went to the waiting cab.

****

Later on that day, Anton span Joanne on the floor of the Cliftons Dance Academy. He hadn’t felt it was a good idea to go to Grimsby, when he took his seat on the train, but now he was glad of the distraction of showing the crowd a few moves. When posing for selfies, members of the audience told him, guiltily, they had voted for him and Katie, instead of local boy, Kevin. Their comments made this year’s Strictly last a little while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Not real, apart from the visit to Grimsby.


End file.
